The present invention relates to a focused ion beam system which is suitable for use in fabricating a specimen for a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the like, and more particularly, to a focussed ion beam system which is suitable for creating a specimen for TEM.
The TEM and SEM have been used for analyzing semiconductor devices, and a focused ion beam system has been utilized for processing materials with a focussed ion beam to fabricate specimen therefor. The focused ion beam system is configured to share a specimen holder with TEM or SEM. Specifically, the focused ion beam system can removably mount a TEM specimen holder or a SEM specimen holder. Therefore, after a specimen has been fabricated by the focussed ion beam system, the specimen holder can be removed from the focussed ion beam system, with the resulting specimen held therein, and mounted to the TEM or SEM for observing the specimen.
E. C. G. Kirk et al, for example, has described a method of creating a specimen for TEM using a focussed ion beam system and a side entry stage in Microscopy of Semiconducting Materials 1989, Institute of Physics Series No. 100, pp. 501–506.
For the SEM, specimen can be created by simple works. A specimen piece for observation by SEM has dimensions on the order of several centimeters for IC chips, wafers, and the like. Therefore, the SEM excels in the ease of handling a specimen because the specimen can be readily carried on a specimen holder (see JP-A-2002-319364). The SEM, however, has the disadvantage of a low resolution.
The TEM, though having a high resolution, involves difficult works for creating specimen. A specimen piece for observation by the TEM must be finished on the order of several millimeters. Thus, the operator experiences difficulties in mounting a cut-out miniature specimen piece in a specimen holder. Since the small specimen piece itself causes difficulties in handling, the operator is highly likely to drop, lose, or damage the specimen piece. In addition, difficulties are also encountered in cutting out a specimen piece including a site under observation, leading to a long time taken for fabricating such a specimen piece.